On June 24th, 1979, Rickey Henderson made his major-league debut for Oakland in a 5-1 loss to Texas in the first game of a doubleheader. Henderson had a single and double in four at-bats and stole the first base of his big-league career.

If you have ever watched a game when a rookie gets his first hit, you know what a big deal it is. The ball is retrieved from the stands (if it was a homer) or from wherever it ended up and saved for the rookie. Everyone in the field and in both dugouts seem to be happy for the rookie, because they all can remember their own first hit.

I have been to a number of games over the years when a rookie got his first Big League hit, threw his first Big League pitch, or swiped his first Big League base. Last year for example, Sue and I were at the game where Twins switch-hitting infield rookie Brooks Lee hit his first Big League homer.

On this day in history in 1979, fans at the Oakland Coliseum got to see Rickey Henderson get his first two hits and swipe the very first of 1406 bases he would end up getting in his Hall of Fame career. Did anyone in the stadium know at the time what they were witnessing? Obviously not.

But it is a good reminder that every first hit you get to see, every first pitch and first homer and first stolen base could end up being the beginning of history. So take some time when it happens to join with the rookie and the players on the field and in the dugouts and just soak it all in.